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The Washington State Auditor’s Office also is reviewing the allegations. The agency has circulated a draft of its report to county leaders, according to Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton, who attended a meeting to review the document.

Beaton said the county asked for time to prepare a response. He expects the state auditor to release the report as early as this week.

He declined to elaborate on what it will say, noting that the final report could change.

“I eagerly await the public release of the independent state auditor fraud investigation,” he said.

An earlier third investigation, by a private investigator hired by the county, ended when the sheriff took over the case.

The private investigator submitted invoices for about about $17,000 after conducting highly-charged courthouse interviews with county employees.

Franklin County Chairman Brad Peck has called the allegations of time card fraud “absurd.” The employee wasn’t required to keep an hourly time card under federal employment law, he said.

The human resources department reached the same conclusion.

The letters didn’t come into public view until this fall when several candidates for county office cited the private investigation as evidence the courthouse is in chaos.